Ikea Hack – Vittsjo Laptop Table

I was wandering through Ikea the other day, when I ended up in the office section. I didn't need anything for the office (much less furniture!) but I browsed none the less. Out of nowhere, I spied this little table.

Ikea Vittsjo Laptop Table

It's part of the Vittsjo line. It's a small table meant to sit over the sofa so you can work on your laptop. It's new (so new in fact that I couldn't find it online). I saw it and instantly thought it would be great as a side table in our living room (with a new top, I hate glass topped tables).

In fact I had pinned this pin a few weeks ago with the intent to make a side table out of copper piping & wood top.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/29554941276844513/

The little Vittsjo Laptop table was a smashing good deal at only $19.99. I promptly texted it to El Granto to get his thumbs up before buying.

Ikea Vittsjo $19.99

After I got it home, I set to assembling everything except the glass top. I decided I wanted to replace the glass with some wood (like from my West Elm Inspiration). I measured how big I wanted the top to be (I decided I liked the look of the wood siting on the frame, rather than inset like the glass was.) After I measured things up, we walked to HD and picked up a cheap $6 pine shelf board. I came home, cut pieces to size and attached them together using our Kreg jig and screws.

Top made with Kreg Jig

We finished the top with a coat of wood conditioner, two coats of chocolate stain, and three coats of furniture wax. We attached it with a few screws to the table using the tabs that once held the glass. We drilled holes in each of the tabs, then using small screws screwed through the tabs into the bottom of the wood top.

This is what we had after $26 and a couple hours work.

Table Complete

Table Complete

*Two days after we completed the table, I picked up a copy of the April issue of Style at Home and saw this article on similar side tables. At $26 ours comes in waaaay under the cost of all the tables in the article. Yay for style on a budget!

You can measure the glass for reference before you cut your wood. I got a piece that was 20" x 12.25", and it was only a teeny bit short in the length, so you could probably do something like 20.125" for perfection.

Hi Andrew,
I used three pieces of pine for the table top (you could use one piece of plywood). I used the Kreg to attach the tabletop pieces together. It could have been done with glue + clamps, dowels or biscuits, bit I like the speed of the Kreg!